The Atari 800 is a classic, collectable computer. Released in 1979 along with its smaller sibling, the Atari 400, these general-purpose machines had groundbreaking graphics and sound due to the use of ICs dedicated to this purpose. Successors included the Atari 800 XL and XE models.

This working example is in very good cosmetic condition. Video is steady and sound is fine. The only issue is that some of the keys are “sticky’ and stay down when pressed until you coax them up. The keyboard may just need to be disassembled and cleaned. There are no “dead” keys.

The machine has been sourced from the US, but the PSU is 240V so no problem there. It has also had a reversable video mod which gives a very stable crisp display on modern(ish) PAL monitors/TVs like the one displayed. You can read about that here: https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2018-03-06-Converting%20-NTSC-Atari-800-for-PAL-using-UAV.htm. As mentioned in the article, I can’t guarantee this will work on ALL PAL TVS, especially older ones. The mod is easily reversable however.

With the Atari 800 you get:

• A Lotharek's Lair-assembled SIO2SD disk drive emulator (V 1.3) plus SD card with a sea of software (see my writeup at https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-06-13-sio2sd-for-atari.htm)
• Six cartridges (see photos)
• A PSU which has a second output which can also supply power to a disk drive
• A manual in excellent condition
• A Spectravideo joystick
• A Galaxian flyer/manual, also in excellent condition

The video cord and TV are not included in the sale.

The computer has worked well since I first acquired it in 2018. However, like most computers pre-1980, the electronics can fail at any time, hence no guarantees.

The Atari 800 is part of my collection, which I’m slowly passing on. You can watch my thoughts on this particular unit, and learn something of the history of the model here: https://youtu.be/Zhyfz8SUkHg?si=RSmTv5wwYo-SlGIF